Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Grace's room is making the transition from a baby's room to a big girl room.

In the transition, though, I have to decide what to keep out and on display and what to pack away.

My mom, the Queen of Quilts, had made this adorable sheep quilt for Grace. This quilt covered her crib and toddler bed up until now.

Of course, both the crib and toddler bed are now gone, making room for a twin bed. We bought this headboard from Goodwill for $14.95 with the intention of painting it white and adding a decorative wood applique that has a slightly vintage feel.

Though her sheep quilt will still have a place in her room, it certainly won't cover her twin bed so The Queen of Quilts will be making her another quilt. Grace and I got to go fabric shopping, finding the daintiest of patterns ranging in colors from pink to green and a touch of yellow.

The Queen of Quilts always adds a label to the back of each quilt she makes. Something personal, something meaningful, something to mark exactly how special the newly made quilt is.

For this quilt, I created the label myself. I embroidred 'let her sleep for when she wakes She will move mountains', a quote I have seen on pinterest countless times. A quote so fitting to be added to a quilt that Grace will spend many nights sleeping beneath.

A bed alone does not make a big girl room, so when I found this beautiful print by Laurel Denise, one that is so fitting for Grace, I didn't hesitate to buy it (especially when I found out it was only $15 with shipping).

And, we'll finally be adding a chandelier to our 100 year old house. Home Depot has this sweet chandelier for just under $100.

Fortunately, I found a ceiling medallion at Goodwill for $1.99 a few months ago. It will get a coat of white paint and will be hung along with the chandelier.

Grace's bookcase will be getting a coat of light pink paint along the back and the shelves will display more big girl items compared to baby items. *And, yes that is a TV you spy. When your husband says, as you are decorating the nursery, if there is a TV in the baby's room, I will help with midnight feedings, you add a TV to the baby's room.

And, there will be some homemade 3 dimensional pink butterflies fluttering around her room.

Just like every other room in our house, this room will be filled with thrifted and flea market finds, home made elements and frugal finds.

Monday, July 29, 2013

With mason jar crafts and creations all the rage, I how have finally succumb to the craze...in my own way, through embroidery.

These watercolor embroidered mason jars were inspired by Cresendoh, you can see the full tutorial at their site.

I took their tutorial and made a few minor changes. Where they stamped a mason jar onto fabric to act as a pattern, I hand drew my mason jar.

Into an embroidery hoop, I layered the following: my hand drawn mason jar fabric followed by a layer of batting and finally another layer of white fabric.

*Using a stem stitch, I embroidered the mason jar. I used dark brown
embroidery thread for the jar, gray for the lid, red for the lab and
dark brown for the word on the label. {These steps were not included in
the tutorial by Cresendoh.}

When my embroidery was complete, I applied blue watercolor, using the technique described by Cresendoh.

After a few trials and errors, I decided to leave my mason jar untrimmed until I applied the watercolor and it fully dried. I feel like it left the edge of the mason jar and batting beneath cleaner.

When completely dry, I cut my mason jar out, cutting around the embroidered stem stitch I made outlining the mason jar.

I applied no fray to the edge of the 'grace' jar. No fray was not applied to the 'hope' jar and you can see, over time, some fraying did result.

Attach some floral wire to the top of the mason jar.

And hang.

And, I am absolutely in love with the results.

I hope you'll decide to make some of your own.

If you liked this tutorial, make sure to check out my 'Make a Wish' embroidery pattern and tutorial.

So, now it's your turn, come out from behind the camera and share your self portraits.

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I called a friend, who came over and bought the kitchen set herself...for $7!

So, instead of buying the kitchen, and justifying having 2 kitchens, I bought this little bunny for .99 cents. If you haven't already guessed after Grace's bunny themed birthday party, we have a thing for bunnies.

Most of the construction dust has settled in our house. We've changed every room in our house by ourselves and on a budget...and, now that I have seen some of the beautiful homes in the summer home tour, I might have to get out my paint brush and tool belt and start again!

Though I do have to share this space, I have tried to make my nook my own. In addition to my LOVE sign, I also have a custom While Wearing Heels sign the talented Holly at Full Circle Creations made me.

Lastly, come on out to onto our back deck. We finally got around to decorating and updating it this summer.

About Me

Adjusting to life since being laid off. When days used to consist of business deals and wearing heels. Now that I am a stay at home mom, in addition to taking care of my adorable little girl, I am learning more about cooking, crafting and creating while realizing that even though I am a stay at home mom, I can still wear my heels!

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